Giving Compass' Take:

• The University of Baltimore is participating in the Second Chance Pell experiment, that offers incarcerated individuals the opportunity to earn a bachelors degree, associates degree or certification.  

• What can philanthropists do to help the Second Chance Pell experiment continue to make an impact?

• Read about this death row inmate who is advocating for more prison education programs. 

Out of some 1.5 million incarcerated people in U.S. prisons, more than half (64%) are eligible for a postsecondary program, according to research from the Vera Institute and the Georgetown University Center on Poverty and Inequality. Yet few complete an associate degree or other credential while locked up.

That's largely because incarcerated individuals lost their access to Pell Grants nearly 25 years ago, when then-President Bill Clinton ushered a wave of tough-on-crime policies through Congress. Although that ban still stands, up to 12,000 people in prisons have had access to Pell Grants since the U.S. Department of Education approved a pilot program in 2015 to test whether it should be lifted.

In all, 65 colleges are involved in the Second Chance Pell experiment, offering a total of 24 bachelor's degrees, 69 associate degrees and 82 certificates. Since the program's rollout, more than 600 incarcerated adults have earned a credential.

The University of Baltimore, a four-year public college in Maryland, is among the participating institutions, offering a bachelor of arts in human services administration to students at a maximum-security prison in the state.

To understand how the programs are structured and what the students in the program gain from the experience, we spoke with Andrea Cantora, director of U of Baltimore’s Second Chance College Program. Now in its third year, the program has about 43 students who are about halfway through their bachelor's degree.

Read the full article about bachelors programs for incarcerated students by Natalie Schwartz at Education Dive.